What Causes a State to Have a Lower Unemployment Rate?
Nationwide according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics the Seasonally Adjusted Unemployment rate is 4.4% but when you look a bit closer you will see that there is quite a bit of variation by state.
States with the Highest Unemployment Rates
Alaska had the highest jobless rate, at 6.8%, followed by New Mexico, at 6.4% and Washington D.C. at 6.2%.
Some of Alaska’s problems are understandable. Alaska has high transportation costs, little industry, a massively spread out population and massive poverty. As a matter of fact among Alaskan Native Americans the poverty rate is double the U.S. Average. The alcoholism mortality rate is 6 times higher than the national average. Obesity and diabetes rates are much higher and injury related deaths are much more frequent. But the situation among Native American tribes in Alaska is actually much worse than the statistics show.
Domestic violence is rampant among Native Americans in Alaska and not just in the home. I spoke with a teacher at a Native American School and they found it necessary to create two distinct schools to separate the boys from the girls because the girls were consistently being raped in the bathrooms. These rapes were routinely unreported to authorities because of the prevailing feeling that nothing would be done about it. And despite the massive under-reporting, statistics still show much higher rates of domestic violence than the average.
Opposite Conditions, Similar Rates
Looking at the various unemployment rates in the states, Alaska’s problems seem obvious but upon closer examination one begins to wonder. The third highest unemployment rate is Washington D.C. which is almost a polar opposite to all the factors in Alaska. D.C. is small, densely populated, has unlimited infrastructure, no oil reserves but it can draw funds from the entire country and it still has a surprisingly high unemployment rate at 6.2%. So two polar opposite places have similar unemployment rates.
Similar Conditions, Different Rates
So let’s look at it the other way around and look at [Read more…] about High Unemployment Rates in Alaska and D.C.